“I WEAR RELAXED HAIR TO LOOK MAINSTREAM, TO APPEASE MY EMPLOYER, TO MAKE HIM FEEL LESS THREATENED, MORE COMFORTABLE, TO TAKE MY HAIR OUT OF HIS PROMOTION EQUATION”.
What about “This is who I am.” “This is my authentic self.” “Why can’t I, instead of my boss, decide what kind of hairstyle is acceptable for work”? Sound familiar? You probably have spoken some version of these statements to express disapproval with workplace policies opposing certain natural hairstyles. Like many Black women, you cite certain school dismissals and corporate firings as proof...

OH, SHUT UP! MAKING THE RECOMMENDED CHARACTER CHANGES WILL NOT VIOLATE OR COMPROMISE CHRISTIANITY!
Oh yes, let us go there! For over twenty years, many of my Christian family members have cited six Scriptures as proof of God's disapproval of women wearing Afros and Hairlocks. They have linked Afros with short hair, Hairlocks with braided hair, and have cited I Corinthians 11:15-16, I Timothy 2:9-10, and I Peter 3:3-4 as Godly proof against women wearing Afros and Hairlocks. Have my Christian family members misunderstood God's Word about women wearing Afros...

A CURSORY READING AND UNDERSTANDING OF SOME OLD TESTAMENT VERSES HAVE FRIGHTENED AWAY MANY WOMEN FROM WEARING CERTAIN HAIRSTYLES.
They feel these verses prove God(i.e., the Christian God: Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit) forbids women, especially Christian Black women, from wearing short Afro and bald hairstyles. But do they?

In Jeremiah 47:5 and 48:37-38, we find Israelites balding heads, cutting beards, and clipping hair to express their mourning, humiliation, and grief from suffering personal losses.